Gates says province needs to increase WSIB compensation now.
Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates is responding to reports that the Ford government will raise WSIB compensation rates if re-elected in June.
Several media outlets reporting the government will demand the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board to come up with a plan to increase payments to 90 percent of pre-accident take-home pay, with the intention of introducing the change in the fall.
Currently, rates are set at 85 percent.
An official announcement from Labour Minister Monte McNaughton is expected later today.
Gates, who is the NDP Health and Safety Critic, says the Conservatives should do more to help employees receiving WSIB payments.
"If the Conservatives were remotely serious about raising rates, they’d end the horrible practice of deeming people able to work when they’re not, stop fighting victims of occupational disease, ensure that WSIB surpluses went to workers instead of corporations, and raise compensation rates. And they would do it now, not a year from now."
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